Bottle carrier



BOTTLE CARRIER Original Filed 001:. 31, 1941 EDWARDWHI/T'H/NGS Patented Jan. 11, 1944 BO'I'ILE oanama Edward w. Hutchings, Perry, Fla.

Substituted for abandoned application Serial No. 417,407, October 31, 1941. This application October 5, 1943, Serial No. 505,050]

2 Claims.

This invention relates to bottle carriers and more particularly to a holder or container paring soft drinks or other beverages.

This application is a substitute for my abandoned application, Serial No. 417,407, filed October 31, 1941.

The object of the invention is to provide a carrier or holder of simple and inexpensive construction, by means of which a plurality of filled bottles may be conveniently carried in an upright position from the place of purchase to the home of the buyer or elsewhere and said holder utilized for returning the empty bottles to the vendor.

A further object of the invention is to provide a sanitary bottle carrier, the construction of which is such that several filled carriers may be positioned one above the other so as to form a square pack and thus occupy very little storage space.

A further object is to provide a bottle carrier, the end walls of which are united by a connecting bar constituting a main supporting handle, there being an auxiliary handle slidably mounted on the main handle and movable vertically to operative position above the same so as to render it unnecessary to insert the fingers of the hand below the bottle necks to pick up the carrier and thus prevent the edges of the closure caps from scratching the hands or tearing gloves if worn by the user.

A further object is to form the bottom of the carrier with spaced strips arranged edgewise to reinforce and strengthen the same and to permit drainage and ventilation, the space between two of said strips being slightly wider than the others to accommodate the auxiliary handle when the carriers are disposed one upon the other to form a square pack.

A still further object of the invention is generally to improve this class of devices so as to increase their utility, durability and efiiciency,

In the accompanying drawing:

Figure 1 is a perspective view, partly broken away, of a bottle carrier constructed in accordance with the present invention, the auxiliary handle being shown in full lines in elevated position and in dotted lines in lowered or inoperative position.

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view with the bottles arranged within the receiving compartments.

Figure 3 is a bottom plan view.

Figure 4 is an end view showing several of the filled carriers arranged one above the other to form a square pack.

Figure 5 is a detail perspective view showing a modified form of auxiliary handle.

The improved bottle carrier forming the subject matter of the present invention is preferably constructed of wood and comprises spaced end walls 5 and 6 connected by side walls 'I and having their opposite side edges converging upwardly, as indicated at 8, said end walls being provided at the intersection of said converging edges with substantially rectangular seats 8 opening through the tapered ends of the end walls, as shown.

The end walls 5 and 6 are connected by a horizontally disposed bar l0 constituting a main supporting handle, the opposite ends of said bar being fitted within the seats 9 with their terminals disposed flush with the outer surfaces of the end walls and secured against accidental displacement by a, metal binding strip II.

The bottom of the carrier is formed of a plurality of horizontally disposed spaced-strips i2 preferably arranged edgewise so as to reinforce and strengthen the carrier and also to facilitate ventilation and drainage. The ends of the strips l2 are fitted in rectangular recesses i3 formed in the lower edges of the end walls of the carrier and are retained in position by the binding strip II which also extends over the adjacent ends of the side walls 7 and converging edges of the end walls, as shown.

The inner faces of the end walls 5 and 6 are formed with vertical seating grooves l3 having their upper ends communicating with the seats 9 and their lower ends terminating in spaced relation to the bottom of the carrier, as indicated at It. Disposed within the carrier is a vertical partition I 5, the opposite ends of which are fitted in the grooves i3 and bear against the lower end walls i l of the grooves so as to divide the carrier into two main compartments.- The central partition I5 preferably projects slightly above the upper edges of the side walls I and is provided with transverse openings it in which are fitted cylindrical rods or dowels l1. The ends of the rods H are fitted in sockets or depressions l8 formed in the inner faces of the side walls I and form separate compartments for the reception of filled bottles of soft drinks, indicated at l9.

Associated with the carrier is an auxiliary handle 20 comprising an inverted substantially U- shaped member 2| preferably formed of relatively stiff wire, the opposite legs of which extend through vertical openings 22 formed in the bar II and have their terminals bent laterally to form stops 23 which, by engagement with the lower edge of the bar "I, serve to limit the upward movement of said auxiliary handle. The central portion of the member 2i is provided with a sleeve or hand grip 24 which, when the auxiliary handle is in lowered position, rests on the upper edge of the bar III so as to permit both handles to be grasped simultaneously when desired. The opposite legs the U-shaped member 2| preferably yieldably engage the walls of the openings 22 in the bar I0 so as to irictionally hold the auxiliary handle in any desired position of vertical adjustment.

The height oi the carrier is preferably such that, when the bottles iii are placed within the compartments, the closure caps 25 or the bottles will be disposed approximately in alinement with or slightly above the upper edge or the bar l0 so as to permit several filled carriers to be disposed one above the other in superposed relation with the bottom of one carrier resting on the caps 25 of the bottles in another carrier thereby to form, in efiect, a square pack and economize in storage space, as best shown in Figure 4 of the drawing.

Attention is called to the fact that the space 26 between the central strips of the bottom of the carrier is slightly wider than the space between the remaining strips, said space 26 serving to receive and accommodate the hand grip 24 when the filled carriers are stacked one upon the other and thus permit the closures .25 of the bottles in one carrier to form a firm support for the bottom of an adjacent carrier,

In using the device, filled bottles are placed in the compartments of the carrier and the auxiliary handle moved to elevated position by exerting an upward pull on the handle grip 24 until the stops 23 engage the lower face of the bar In and in which position the filled carrier may be conveniently carried from the place of purchase to the home of the buyer. After the liquid in the bottles has been consumed, the empty bottles are placed within the carrier and the auxiliary handle thereof depressed until the hand grip 24 contacts with the upper edge of the bar in and in which position the bar l0, together with the auxiliary handle, may be conveniently grasped in the hand and the carrier containing the empty bottles carried back to the vendor.

It will be noted that by providing the carrier with the auxiliary handle 20, it is not necessary to pick up the carrier by inserting the fingers of the hand below the necks of the bottles. thereby preventing the crimped edges of the closure caps 25 from scratching the hands or tearing ladies gloves if worn by them when purcihasing and transporting soft drinks in the carr er.

It will, furthermore, be noted that the longitudinal strips l2 not only reinforce and strengthen the bottom of the carrier but also provide ample ventilation and drainage therefor so as to render the device extremely sanitary in character.

In Figure of the drawing, there is illustrated a modified form of the invention in which the hand grip for the auxiliary handle is dispensed with, the central portion 21 of the U-shaped member 28 being seated in a shallow depression 29 formed in the main handle 30 so as to permit said central portion to be conveniently gripped by the fingers when it is desired to move the auxiliary handle to elevated or operative position. While I have shown the auxiliary handle in connection with a carrier having transverse rods defining independent bottle receiving compartments. it will, of course, be understood that, if desired, said rods may be dispensed with and the filled bottles disposed on either side of the central partition l5.

It will thus be seen that there is provided a comparatively simple and inexpensive bottle carrier, the construction of which is such that danger of scratching or otherwise mutilating the hands by coming in contact with the closure caps of the bottles in the act of gripping the handle is entirely obviated and that the auxiliary handle is so disposed that, when moved downwardly to inoperative position, it will permit the placement of one filled carrier on another so as to economize storage space. It will also be noted that, inasmuch as the empty bottles are without closure caps. the smooth necks of the bottles will not scratch or otherwise injure the hands when gripping the main and auxiliary handles in the act of carrying the empty bottles in the holder back to the vendor.

It will, of course, be understood that the carriers may be made in difierent sizes and shapes to accommodate any desired number of bottles and constructed of any suitable material without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. A carrier for bottles comprising a body for receiving bottles in rows and including end walls, a horizontal bar connecting the end walls, spaced strips forming the bottom of the carrier and arranged to leave a space directly under and parallel to said horizontal bar, and a handle slidably mounted for vertical movement in the horizontal bar and provided with a finger engaging portion movable to elevated position when carrying bottles and to lowered position in contact with the upper edge of the horizontal bar when storing the carriers with bottles, the upper edge of said horizontal bar being disposed in a plane substantially flush with the tops of the bottles whereby another carrier may be supported upon the tops of the bottles in the first mentioned carrier with the finger engaging portion of said carrier fitting within said space in the bottom.

2. A carrier for bottles comprising a body for receiving bottles in rows and including end walls, a horizontal bar connecting the end walls between adjacent rows of bottles, spaced strips forming the bottom of the carrier and arranged to leave a space directly under and parallel to said horizontal bar, a handle mounted for vertical movement on the horizontal bar and movable to a position in contact with the upper edge of said horizontal bar, the upper edge of said bar being disposed in a horizontal plane having such relation to the plane of the tops of the bottles that another carrier may be supported upon the tops of the bottles in the first mentioned carrier to form a square stack with the handle of said carrier fitting within said space in the bottom thereby to lock the carriers against lateral displacement when in stacked formation.

EDWARD W. HU'ICHINGS. 

